Expert: Texas fire was accidental, not arson

At the other counsel table, sitting alone, was Thompson, the district attorney from Navarro County. After he left, the prosecutor's table was unoccupied. His absence allowed Lentini's testimony to stand unchallenged.

Outside the courthouse, a small group of protesters from the Texas Moratorium Network carried signs and wore T-shirts proclaiming Willingham's innocence.

Stacy Kuykendall, Willingham's ex-wife, declined an invitation from Baird to testify at the hearing. She told reporters last week that Willingham confessed his guilt to her shortly before his execution - although Innocence Project lawyers say she has gone back and forth over the years on whether he confessed. Willingham publicly maintained his innocence.

"Unfortunately, every time the anti-death penalty advocates renew their crusade against capital punishment using this case, old wounds are opened up for her," wrote Johnny Sutton, Kuykendall's attorney, in a letter to Baird. "Todd Willingham is not a victim but a convicted murderer whose case was reviewed by numerous courts, including the United States Supreme Court. The true victims are Amber, Kameron and Karmon, and we need to remember them."

A jury in Corsicana, south of Dallas, convicted Willingham of capital murder. He was executed after Gov. Rick Perry turned down his final appeal despite evidence from a renowned fire expert that there was not enough evidence to support the arson determination.

Testimony from fire investigators was the primary evidence against Willingham. The defense did not present a fire expert because the one hired by Willingham's attorney also said the fire was caused by arson.

But the investigators' conclusions have been strongly challenged by several fire experts. Craig Beyler, the chairman of the International Association of Fire Safety Science and one of the foremost experts in the field, wrote in a report last year that investigators didn't follow standards in place at the time and did not have enough evidence to make an arson finding.

The opinions of a state fire official in the case were "nothing more than a collection of personal beliefs that have nothing to do with science-based fire investigation," Beyler wrote.